Textile washer and drier utilizing compression waves



Jan. 24, 1950 F. SPANIER TEXTILE WASHER AND DRIER UTILIZING COMPRESSIONWAVES Original Filed Aug. s, 1947 FIG. 2

Fuel

INVEN TOR. fie/r2 5mm which are sometimes paddles, cups, etc.

. cover 24 Patented Jan. 1950 'rnxms wssnnrrsnn Damn UTILIZINGCOMPBESSIONWAVES,

I Fritz Spanler, Staten Island, N. Y.

' Original application August .0, 1947, Serial No.

766,490. Divided and this application Novemher 15; 1947, Serial No.786,236

' My invention relates to compression waves or ultrasonic waves and morespecifically to their use to wash clothes. The principal object of myinvention is to construct an apparatus topractice the process set forthin my copending application Serial No. 766,490, flied Aug. 6, 1947. ofwhich this application is a division: r

A further object is to prouide a clothes washer to wash clothes withoutthe necessity of contacting the' clothes with any interior matter suchas "A further object is to construct a clothes washer "which will bemore efllcient than any on the market w'ithwhich'I am familiar.

My means of accomplishing the above objects may be more readilyapprehended by having reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical elevation'partly in section; I Fig. 2 isa sideelevation partly in section;

Fig. 3 is a top sectional elevation on line 3-4 oi Fig.1; looking in thedirection of the arrows. showing the piping system.

.Si'rnilar reference numerals refer to similar parts throughout thespecification.

As shown in Figure 1, I provide a closed treatreferred to 'as supersonic.4 Claims. (CL 68-420) where electrode lead lines 40 and 42 connect theopposite sides of .the crystal 34 to the oscillator system 38 which, inturn, is connected to a suitable source of input current (not shown) bylead line 44 and leads 36 and 31 through ajc'over operated switch ledby'leads 30 and 32 respectively.

I provide a sealed chamber 46 in which the crystal 341s positioned andin this chamber I provide a dielectric such'as a light petroleum oilment chamber "in whichbasket l2, preferably rubber covered, is suspendedon the ledge l4 holding the lip ll of the basket i2 so that waterentering through inlet pipe will cover the contents of the basket. Assoon asthe water reaches the predetermined level, as indicated at 22, inthe chamber It, a valve, (not shown) automatically closes pipe 20. Themeans for this is well known and is not apart of my invention,consequently I shallfinot'describe any with a convenient handle throughwhich the clothes are inserted into the basket [2. The cover 24 issecured in a flange 26 fitted into a groove 28 formedin the. containerill as part of the ledge l4. A check inlet port I! is providedto admitair and exhaust it as the system'is filled {and emptied. It will benoted that leads 30 and 32 run to acover operated switch whereby whenthe cover 24 is open the circuit is broken and no vibration can occur.At the bottom of the chamber I0 I provide a transducer such as a crystal34 which may be natural or manufactured.

Preferably the transducer used is of the crystal known in the art. Asshown, the crystal. is

suspended in a chamber in one form. I provide a so that thevibrations'of the crystal 34 will be fully communicated to the thin resilient diaphragm or plate 48 which is in contact with the chamber i0 and vibratesthe fluid therein. An exhaust pipe 50 is provided to drain the systemwhen'required. The pump for this is not shown. Heating pipes indicatedgenerally at 52 are perforated as at54 and provide the drying'm'eans forhot air as pumped in by pump through a heating box- 58. These pipes arepreferably formed in a coil and are located in troughs formed in thebottom of the container and may extend upwardly following the contour ofthe container. The controls for these pumps and the oscillator are notshown as they are old and .well known. b

It is well known that in crystal vibrating systerms, the effect of thevibrations is in a direct line of the vertical axis of the crystal as itvibrates. Therefore, if desired, more than one crystal may be employedin the same manner as the crystal 34 described and shown in the drawingswithout positioned with their electric axis in parallel and areconnected in parallel to the oscillating sys-'- tem. The operation ofthe is as follows: if

The clothes to be cleaned are now introduced I into the treatmentchamber i0; inserting them in the basket I2; V

A small amount of a detergent and/orw'ashing soap" may be added if thematerial to be treated or cleaned is very soiled. The cover 24 is closedand the water is turned on. As soon as the desired height is reached thewater is turned off and a switch (not shown) is thrown to start thevibration of the crystal 34. As soon as the desired time interval haselapsed the switch is cut off and the pump is'engaged, draining of! thedirty fluid through the pipe 50. When the chamber I0 is exhausted,outlet pipe 50 is" a dielectric bath closed cit;

.theinlet pipe 20 is opened, and water above described apparatus isagain admitted to the desired height. Again, the inlet valve is closed,the current switch is thrown and vibration again occurs for a specifiedtime. Upon the ceasing of the vibration, the outlet valve opens, theexhaust pump starts and the system is again exhausted.

-The clothes are left where they are and the drying pump 56 connected toair pipes 52 is started and hot air is circulated into the treatmentchamber ID for the desired time.

There are several arrangements, well known, and familiar to thoseskilled in the art whereby all these functions maybe automatically timedand controlled. It will be clear that the method is exactly the same forcleaning clothes, dishes, sterilization of instruments and the like,except that the duration of the vibration period will be variedaccording to the type of material being treated.

I have found that with vibrations of approximately 60,000 cycles persecond cotton textiles will be washed in a few minutes, while silk andrayon clothing will naturally requiregess time.

Having described my invention what I regard as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is: 1. In a device for washing and drying textiles, acontainer substantially open at the top adapted to hold fluid, therebeing a central opening in the bottom of said container surrounded by anannular depression, a diaphragm covering said central opening, a crystaltransducer of a responsive frequency of substantially 60,000 cycles persecond, said crystal being located directly below said diaphragm inposition to vibrate said diaphragm and the fluid in the container bycompression waves, a basket to hold said textiles, said basket beingpositioned directly above said diaphragm, and a pipe to introduce heatedand compressed air into said container, said pipe being formed in asubstantially flat coil located in said annular depression and outsideof the vibrating area of said diaphragm, said pipe having spacedorifices therein.

2. In a device for washing and drying textiles, a containersubstantially open at the top adapted to ho;d fluid, there being acentral opening in the bottom of said container and a channel formed insaid bottom and surrounding said opening, a diaphragm covering saidcentral opening, a crystal transducer of a resonant frequency of lessthan 100 kc. per second, said crystalbeing located directly below saiddiaphragm in position to vibrate said diaphragm and the fluid in thecontainer by compression waves, a basket to hold said textiles, saidbasket being positioned directly above said diaphragm, and a pipe tointroduce heated and compressed air into said container, said pipe beingformed in a substantially flat coil located close to and substantiallyin the channel formed in the bottom of the container and outside of thevibrating area of said diaphragm, said pipe having spaced orificestherein.

3. In a device for washing and du ing textiles, a containersubstantially open at the top adapted to hold fluid, there being achannel formed in the bottom of said container and surrounding a centralopening in said bottom, a chamber being attached to said container,fluid tight means closing said central opening and separating saidcontainer from said chamber, a crystal transducer in said chamber of aresonant frequency less than kc. per second located directly below saidfluid tight means and in a position to vibrate the same and the fluid inthe container by compression waves, said cham. ber being substantiallyfilled with a dielectric such as oil, said fluid tight means adapted totransmit compression waves set up by said crystal through saiddielectric to said fluid, said crystal being positioned in said chamberin register with the center of said aperture, a pipe to introduce heatedand compressed air into said container, said pipe being formed in asubstantially flat coil located in said channel below a plane throughsaid fluid tight means and out side of the vibrating area of said fluidtight means.

4. In a device for washing and drying textiles, a rectangular containeropen at the top adapted to hold fluid, a basket to hold said textiles,the bottom wall of said container having troughs surrounding a centralrectangular orifice, pipes to introduce heated and compressed air intosaid container located in said troughs, a diaphragm covering saidorifice, said pipes being arranged to follow the contour of saidcontainer, said pipes being substantially below the level of saiddiaphragm, a crystal transducer whose resonant frequency is between 30and 100 kc. per second, a transducer chamber, said transducer beingsuspended in said chamber, said chamber being substantially filled withoil, said chamber attached to said container directly below saiddiaphragm, said diaphragm adapted to transmit compression waves set upby said crystal through said oil to said fluid.

' FRITZ SPAN'IER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS are of record in the Number

